Former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar has alleged that the arrest and detention of former Sokoto State Governor and serving senator, Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, is further proof that President Bola Tinubu’s administration is weaponising the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to silence opposition voices.

Atiku’s remarks followed Tambuwal’s arrest on Monday over alleged fraudulent cash withdrawals totalling ₦189 billion.

The Sokoto State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) had earlier condemned the arrest, describing it as part of a wider plot by the All Progressives Congress (APC)-led government to intimidate political opponents and weaken growing resistance to the president. The African Democratic Congress (ADC) also accused the EFCC of engaging in selective investigations, often by reopening old cases without fresh evidence.

“Certainly, that is not the objective for which I worked hard during our administration to create the EFCC,” Atiku said in a statement on Tuesday.

“It is as though anyone who associates with the opposition becomes a target for phantom corruption allegations, yet the moment they are coerced into the political agenda of President Tinubu, their ‘sins’ are forgiven. That is not how to build institutions, and certainly not how to fight the monster of corruption. Such tendencies only encourage corruption to thrive.”

The former vice-president further alleged that the EFCC has been used to pressure opposition state governors into defecting to the ruling party, warning that the “tea party is not about to end anytime soon.”

He called on civil society organisations and the international community to condemn what he described as the politicisation of the anti-corruption fight, insisting the opposition would not bow to any anti-democratic agenda aimed at turning Nigeria into a one-party state.